New Orleans, LA
– For the first time, an international group of researchers has found genetic
evidence linking schizophrenia to a specific region of DNA – on chromosome 6.
This is the same area where key genes for immune function are located. The
LSUHSC research team was led by Nancy Buccola, APRN, PMH CNS-BC, Assistant
Professor of Clinical Nursing at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, who
also coordinated the ten clinical sites. The work, Common variants on
chromosome 6p22.1 are associated with schizophrenia, along with two related
papers, is published in the July 1, 2009 issue of the journal Nature.

The researchers recruited study participants, people with diagnoses of
schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, plus controls from the general
population. They analyzed data collected and also conducted a meta-analysis of
data from the Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia, International Schizophrenia
Consortium and SGENE data sets – thousands of DNA samples.

While a single
gene does not appear to be the source of the development of schizophrenia, the
researchers found variations on chromosome 6 that appear to be associated with
higher risk. These variations were found most often in people with
schizophrenia, leading the scientists to believe that these common variations
contribute to the development of schizophrenia. This area of chromosome 6, in
the same area where genes important to the immune system function, provokes
questions about whether or not treatments for autoimmune disorders might also be
helpful in treating schizophrenia.

"Schizophrenia can be a devastating
disease, and while treatments are improving, there are still people who do not
respond or only partially respond," notes Buccola, principal investigator on the
LSUHSC study. "Understanding the underpinnings of this illness will open doors
to new and potentially better treatments."

According to the National Institute of
Mental Health, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder
that affects about 1.1 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a
given year. People with schizophrenia sometimes hear voices others don’t hear,
believe that others are broadcasting their thoughts to the world, or become
convinced that others are plotting to harm them. These experiences can make them
fearful and withdrawn and cause difficulties when they try to have relationships
with others.

The LSUHSC research team, which included
LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Margaret Baier, MD, and Erich
Conrad, MD, LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, as well as Sherri Chalona,
completed the work while evacuated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to
LSUHSC’s temporary campuses in Baton Rouge.

The research was supported by funding
from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Alliance for
Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.

"Scientists have been looking for
schizophrenia susceptibility genes since the early 1900s," says Buccola. "This
study shows that these genes can be found and sets the stage for future
research."

LSUHealthSciencesCenterNew Orleans
educates the majority of Louisiana's
health care professionals.The
state's academic health leader, LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the
state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public
Health, Schools of Allied Health Professions and Graduate Studies, as well as
the only School of Nursing in Louisiana within an academic health center. LSUHSC
faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics
throughout Louisiana. In the
vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas worldwide, LSUHSC faculty
have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, treat, or cure
disease. LSUHSC outreach programs span the state.